Breathe Easy: 3 Practical Strategies for a Calmer Mind
It’s normal to experience anxiety at times—before an interview, exam, or giving a speech, for example. However, when the anxiety becomes excessive and intense, it can significantly impact one’s life. Living with anxiety can often feel lonely, overwhelming, and debilitating. Experiencing anxiety often looks like excessive worry, racing thoughts, muscle tension, irritability, trouble concentrating, sleep disturbances, and even physical symptoms such as heart palpitations and nausea. First, I want you to know that if this sounds like your experience, you are not alone and there are strategies you can learn to help. Below I will discuss three tools you can try to help manage anxiety.
3 Practical Tools to Calm
1.Deep Breathing
Practice Deep Breathing: deep breathing is a simple and effective way to calm your body’s stress response and reduce feeling anxious. When you notice yourself starting to feel anxious, try square (or 4x4 breathing). Take a deep breath in through your nose—focusing on allowing the air to expand your abdomen. Count to 4 while breathing in, hold for 4 counts, exhale out for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts. Repeat this pattern several times and bring awareness to the sensation of your breath filling your body and releasing tension with each exhale. Deep breathing helps regulate your nervous system and can increase feeling calm.
2. Grounding for Focus
Grounding Technique: Grounding techniques are a great way to bring your focus back to the present moment and help alleviate anxiety. One effective technique is called the 5-4-3-2-1 method. Here’s how it works: when feeling anxious or overwhelmed, take a moment to notice these things:
5 things you can see around you
4 things you can touch or feel
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
This technique engages with all your senses and can be a great way to interrupt the anxious loop that sometimes gets a hold of us.
3. Engaging to Reduce Stress
Engaging in Relaxation Techniques: Engaging in these activities on a daily basis can help reduce the overall stress and anxiety levels. Whether it be meditation, guided imagery, yoga, or something like progressive muscle relaxation. Experiment with what works best for you and then make efforts to incorporate it into your daily self care routine. Even if it’s just for a few moments, utilizing relaxation techniques can have a significant impact on your mental well-being.
Remember, anxiety management is an ongoing process. It takes time to build these habits into your routine, so have compassion with yourself as you implement different strategies. You got this!
